(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high velocity acoustic shotgun system and more particularly to a method and apparatus for dispersing a plurality of relatively small, supercavitating projectiles in the water over a wide spatial field at long ranges from an underwater gun or surface gun.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One major technical challenge related to employing supercavitating projectiles against targets is the need to accurately determine the location of a target object when it is positioned at a substantial distance from the launch device. Even small errors in the target bearing solution will result in a miss of the object. To overcome this known problem, multiple rounds of projectiles have usually been fired in bursts. Firing projectiles in bursts, however, necessitates using rapid firing rates and also requires the use of copious amount of ammunition. In addition, the mechanical design of such a gun system becomes much more complex and the utility of the gun system accordingly is more limited.
A second problem common to supercavitating projectiles is the configuration of the projectile itself. The primary design choice involves making tradeoffs between using heavier projectiles which generally result in increased range, or using lighter initially higher velocity projectiles that slow down more rapidly and are thus range limited. For a particular system to be effective a critical projectile speed and mass must be selected in order to neutralize a target at a given range.
In addition to the two projectile related difficulties described above, another obstacle encountered by rapid mine clearance systems is the obtaining of a reliable indication that the mine has in fact been disabled. The existing approach to resolving this quandary requires the use of scuba divers or deployment of a remote camera. In either of these cases the mine disablement confirmation often turns into a tedious, time consuming process.
What is needed is a way to overcome the inherent problems associated with long range gun system accuracy, projectile mass and velocity design choice considerations, and mine system clearance verification difficulties by providing a means for accurately dispersing multiple projectiles at significant range while providing a reliable acoustic means to detect target impacts thereby and either indicate an object's presence in particular volume or lack thereof.